ESPM 4295 -GIS in Environmental Science and Management

The week's activities are listed in this column

Week 1 - Introduction, Course Mechanics, ArcGIS Set Up and Use
Our primary goals this week are to cover course mechanics, set up ArcGIS Pro access at home, refresh basic ArcGIS use and digitizing, and introduce our semester-long problem spatial analysis project. Whew.

Everyone must join in the whole-class Zoom meeting on Wed., Sept. 9, link provided here: 4295 Class Introduction
This course will be taught using a hybrid synchronous/asynchronous model, and will combine compulsory online meetings, online resources you may access when needed, and optional in-person instruction.  We will meet virtually, through Zoom, as a group on many Mondays during the scheduled time period, from 10:40 to 12:30.  I will be present in the 35 Skok Hall lab for many of these sessions. The course may be completed entirely online, or students may come to the teaching lab in 35 Skok Hall to participate and receive individualized help, subject to the reduced lab capacitites. Masks covering the nose and mouth will be required at all times while in the lab room. Lectures, lab instructions, and skill guidance will also be provided online via live (Zoom) and pre-recorded videos, and all assignments submitted electronically. Much of the course involves individual spatial analysis and trouble shooting. Andy and I have extensive experience helping students via Zoom screen sharing, and plan on using this as a first method for individiual help. 

This course is split in two periods. We develop skills during the first six or so weeks, focusing primarily on two practice areas in the northern part of the St Paul Campus (map here). The remainder of the semester focuses on an analysis for two project watersheds (map here).

ArcGIS Software Access
We will use ArcGIS Pro via the web, on a browser/virtual computer. We will use a software called Citrix for this. You may also download/install ArcGIS on your own computer if it meets the technical requirements  (see X295 Software Setup document linked in the To Do section, below, for instructions on using Citirx and downloading/installing ArcGIS Pro). Finally, you can come to the 35 Skok Hall labs for help/to work, although we strongly recommend you do this sparingly. We plan on  most interactions will be through Zoom/screen sharing.

Data and photos available for this class on the class L drive, ESPM4295W directory, in a Data directory, and in a CampusImages directory. For this class we'll refer to the 4295W subdirectory as the L Drive or as CLD for "Course Lab Drive."

The L:\ drive is accessible by mapping the drive from your home computer, as described in the To Do section below, X295 Software Setup. You will start a VPN, map the L Drive, and copy data to your local computer drive.  Most of you will start a CFANS desktop/virtual computer through Citrix, and then copy the files you need to the virtual computer desktop for work in ArcGIS. When done, you will copy any needed files, e.g., your digitized layers,  back to your local computer or to your Google drive or other "permanent" drive. 

If you opt to install the ArcGIS Pro software on your local computer, you will still need to start a VPN and map the L Drive to copy the data to your local drive.

Data are also available the computers in 35 Skok Hall, automatically mapped under the CFANS\LABS\ESPM4295W directory each time you log on in person. You should copy the data to a local drive on your lab computer before use, and copy them back to the L drive, or a USB portable drive, when finished.

Note that you should directly load files from the L drive into an ArcGIS map; this means don't load data from the the L: directly into ArcGIS when using a virtual machine, or when working on your home computer, or in the Skok Hall Lab. Copy your data files to the virtual machine desktop if using ArcGIS through Citrix/a browser, or copy files to your desktop or another local drive if working on a home computer, then add the files to ArcGIS from the local drive. At times you may get away with using the L drive directly, but your project is more likely to freeze, crash, or lose data, and at times it will be excrutiatingly slow - particularly during peak use. Do yourself a favor and get in the habit of copying data to your desktop when you start, and back to the L drive or a local drive when you finish.

Each student is also assigned a L:\home\{your id} directory.
This directory is for all your class work.  So that you can copy data you produce to L:\home\{your id}, your google drive, or another location. At least once a week you should make a copy of all your data, so that if something goes wrong, e.g., a system crashes, taking your data with it, you're less likely to lose much.

Main Week's Activities:

Read the Semester Project Description linked here, to get an idea of what we're heading for over the next 15 weeks, and look at the Rainfall Mitigation description and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency guidelines for additional motivating information.

To do:
A) Set up access to ArcGIS Pro via a virtual machine/web browser, OR/AND install ArcGIS Pro on a home machine, using the instructions found here:  X295 Software Setup

B) Create a practice geodatabase in NAD83(CORS96) UTM Zone 15 coordinates.  Refer to the materials in the resources column, far right, if you need a refresher in getting started in ArcGIS Pro. If after viewing you still have questions, talk to Paul and Andy. We'll expect you to be able to create geodatabase layers and digitize into them quickly and easily for subsequent exercises. 

First, Create a feature data set and three feature classes in your new geodatabase, shown on the practice map here, and as described below: a point feature class to hold the water tower, a line feature class for a trees study area, and a polygon feature class for a landcover study area.

Second, display one of our course images of the St. Paul campus, found in the L: drive, under the 4295\CampusImages directory. Unless you've already done so, you will need to set up a VPN and map the network drive, as described towards the end of the X295 Software Setup document, in part A, above.  If you can't map a network drive, and you've read the instructions carefully and tried a few times, contact Andy Jenks and I to troubleshoot and solve the problem. You will need to access the L drive during the course of this semester.  If time is short and you have not been able to access the course drive, then set the background to one of the detailed WMS images, as detailed near the bottom of the resources column, at the right.

Third,  digitize features on the St. Paul Campus for:

a) the water tower east of Green Hall, into a point feature class

b) a "Trees study area" outline into a line feature class, as shown on the practice map, here, and

c) The "Landcover" practice area boundary, a polygon feature class, shown on the practice map, here.

C) Create a map with an image background, your three digitized layers, your name, a title, scale bar, and north arrow, and export as a pdf. Remember, you can get an image background from the ArcGIS standard backgrounds, or from the class images, described in the Resources column for this week, at the far right.

A note on software.  You should use ArcGIS Pro, even if you learned ArcMap in a previous course. You may have trouble moving back and forth between Map and Pro versions of Arc, so best to avoid that trouble entirely. It is best to stay with just one version of the software.

One final note for this week, in this and all assignments and conduct, your expected understand and follow the Student Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity. Read it and let the instructors know if you don't understand any parts.

Deadlines for each week's work are listed in this column 

Turn in assignments on the Course Canvas Site, unless specified otherwise. Some activities are due  the same week as assigned, but typically assignments are due the week after assignment.

Assignments are submitted via Canvas, unless specified otherwise.

Prior to class Next Wednesday, before 10:40 a.m. (the start of class):

• Learn how to start an ArcGIS virtual machine through a browser, or install an at-home copy, for ArcGIS Pro
• Create and turn in a pdf map of the digitized features described in the left column, plus an image background, name, title, scalebar, north arrow, and legend.

Next Wednesday before class is a hard deadline, you should turn in what you have completed by then. This class moves at a fast pace, and you can't be neglecting new work.  Once the deadline has passed, you will receive a 30% deduction from your graded score, and after two weeks, zero points. Unless noted otherwise, this will be our policy for assignments. If you're traveling out of town for another committment, pre-clear tardy submissions.

Rules when turning things in:

• Submit maps as pdfs
• Submit data as geodatabases (GDB extension), compressed in  .zip or similar formats. 
• Submit written documents as MS Word files or Apple Pages files. If I specify that you turn track changes on, you must submit a draft as such, or I will deduct up to 25% - this course is writing intensive, I want to see evidence of thoughtful editing and improvement.
• Include your initials at the start of your files, and a W# where # is the week at the end of the filename.  For example, I might name my map "pvb_practicemap_W1.pdf", my geodatabase "pvb_practice_data_W1.gdb" and my zip file "pvb_practice_W1.zip".

Failure to follow this naming convention for compressed and component files may result in a deduction, and/or a return to you for re-submission. The naming and week identifiers greatly help me organize submissions and grading.

When you turn in vector data layers, make sure you don't have extraneous columns in the table.  The data may come with "extra" columns, or you may be generating intermediate columns through processing. Keep only those needed for the primary purpose of your data.

Resources for the week are listed in this column

Introductory Slides

Semester Project "Big Picture" Overview Slides (refer to this throughout semester)

You must compress your geodatabases before turning them in, here's a video on file compression:
How to Zip/Unzip

Review materials from FRNM3131 (note, data referred to below are in the 3131 course files, but you shouldn't need them for understanding the mechanics):

ArcGIS Pro Refresher

• Review this Video, if need be, for starting ArcGIS Pro, creating a new project
• Here is a short written excerpt from Lab 1 in the 3131 course, on creating a Geodatabase, and importing data into it - it is some pretty detailed text, may take a bit to wade through, but it may be a good reference if you've forgotten or didn't learn the startup process
• Review video here on creating a geodatabase
• Review video on creating a feature dataset
• Review  videos on digitizing points
• Review video here on digitizing polygons
• Accessing the MNGeo WMS server in ArcGIS Pro

Week 2 - Digitize trees and write the introduction of your final report

Task 1 - Digitize the tree canopy for the "Trees" practice area

Display and view the photos available for this class on the class L drive, ESPM4295W directory, in the CampusImages folder. Your goal is to digitize each tree's canopy outline based on the images. You do not have to digitize trees for the entire landcover area, just use those for the smaller trees area you digitized  on last week's practice area map.

Manually interpret individual tree crowns based on the various leaf-on and leaf-off images. It is best to use the most recent image. You can use leaf-off images to somewhat identify the crowns and to separate evergreen from deciduous trees, but leaf-on images provide the best source for crown edges.

You should do your best job of interpreting the individual trees, even where they grow in clumps. Do not be too meticulous in digitizing tree crowns. Something like 8 to 12 vertices should be acceptable for most normal, "rounded" crown boundaries. The point here is to refresh your digitizing knowledge and practice the skills, not to spend hours digitizing. Use autocomplete digitizing or split polygon digitizing as appropriate on clumps. Remember that individual crowns cannot overlap.

Also note that tree crowns cannot overlap with buildings.  It is easiest to digitize crowns rather coarsely where they overlap buildings but don't worry about matching building edges, as we will later be digitizing building outlines, and can use building polygons with the Erase function to remove the overlapping tree portions. There are digitizing options that allow you to auto-complete along existing boundaries, so you could digitize the buildings first and then and then match these edges, but it is easier to Erase in this case. 

You should create a text attribute named something like TreeType with the values "conifer" or "deciduous" assigned as appropriate for each polygon.

Also note that the various annual and seasonal images don't register perfectly, one to another. They fit in one part of the campus, while not so well in others. Features digitized on one image don't fall exactly on top of the same feature in another. How should you adjust/account for this? Perhaps pick one image as a base, and manually adjust locations to the base while digitizing.

Task 2 - Begin your semester-long report by writing a polished draft of the introduction. This draft should be two to five pages at 1.5 line spacing, not counting figures. It should describe:

• the problem you're addressing,  
• why we're interested in doing this, 
• a description and map/figure of the study area (remember, the two large watersheds, NOT the practice areas), and
• the general approach you'll be using. 

Look at the information on rainwater and runoff provided in the first week for motivation, and the example reports in this week's resources columns for example introductions. 

Your description should be written as if you were working over the entire, two watershed analysis area of the semester project (map here), and not just your practice areas.  We want to build the report in pieces over the course of the semester. If your graphics and text refer to the practice areas as your study area, you'll cause yourself more work, in that you'll have to re-write sections and create new figures for your final report. You can include graphic examples from the Trees and Landcover practice/skills areas you're digitizing, but be strategic so that you don't show the practice area boundaries in the figures. You should be clear to describe images of digitized tree, building, or landcover layers as examples from a sub-area of your overall study area.

You should write in the present or past tense when describing general problems or conditions (e.g., "managing rainfall runoff is one of the most common and expensive problems in developed areas,"  and the past tense when you're describing the data development and analysis of your project (e.g., "we used several images as data sources..."). Write as if you've already completed your data development and analysis, even though you haven't started yet. You'll slowly build the report, an assignment at a time, so you'll revise the introduction and add methods, results and recommendations in later labs. 

I'll expect you will have gone through the write-read-revise cycle several times, to make sure it is clear, concise, complete, well organized, and grammatically and factually correct. Read the materials in this week's resources column on general writing guidelines.  You must turn in two drafts: First, an iinitial draft which is fairly complete, and a second draft, with track changes on, in which you've tried to improve on clarity, grammar, spelling, and formatting. You must have track changes on between drafts.

If there is a tradeoff between finising the digitizing, and skimping on the report introduction, do the introduction first.

By next Monday, before the start of class, turn in: 

1. A pdf map of the tree crowns, colored by TreeType, with an image background, and your trees practice area boundary, and the usual map elements (title, name, legend, scalebar, etc.) 
   
   
2. Two versions of a draft introduction for your final report, and initial version, and a revised version, with track changes on.

• You should use a 11 or 12 point font,
• Have 1" margins all around,
• Two to five pages, not counting figures, 1.5 line spacing, section and subsection titles on their own line (e.g., "Introduction"  or "Study Area") and you should bold, italisize, and increase font size to set off titles if you wish. 
• All figures should be numbered sequentially, e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, have a descriptive caption below the figure, and be referenced in the narrative. You should at least have a study area figure, with the analysis watershed outlines and an image background.
• All tables should also be numbered sequentially, and have descriptive headings or captions. See the reports in the resources columns for examples to emulate. 
• Maps should have north arrows, scale bars, a descriptive title, and legend, in fonts that are no smaller than 9 point when displayed on a letter-sized page.

Week 2 Slides, digitizing tips, writing assignment

Editing, see the intro videos provided in Week 1 on creating a geodatabase and digitizing points and polygons, and these below, excerpted and modified from FNRM3131 for more efficient digitizing:

• polygon snapping 
• split polygons
• merge polygons
• autocomplete polygons
• clip digitizing
• using transparent and hatch fills
• adding a field to a table
• manually selecting and assigning a field value into a table
• deleting fields

Additional information for your report: 

Read the "Guidelines for Your Report" and the "Writing Hints" pdfs. 

Additional tools that might be useful for your report:

• MS Windows Snip image from screen for figures 
• ArcGIS Pro Export image from data frame for figures
• Using Draw.io to create a flowchart of your workflow

Examples of professionally written reports - good examples of proper tone, grammer, and level of detail:

1: Browns Creek
2: NPS Pollinator Survey
3: NPS Kettle Ponds
4: Dall Sheep Survey
5: Grand Sable Netting
 

You should create a study area figure in your draft introduction, using the full watershed outlines in the StudyShds shapefil provided in the L: drive, respective class directories, in the Data subdirectory.

Week 3 - Project Geodatabase Creation, Digitizing, Topology 

Create a Geodatabase with topology for the north campus project area, containing the layers listed below. Review topology editing/digitizing in ArcGIS pro as needed (videos on right).

Your geodatabase should have a feature data set that includes:
1) A "Landcover" polygon layer recording surface cover, with a text column named "material" for surface type that contains two categories, either 1) impervious (e.g., roads, sidewalks, parking lots, paved plazas) or 2) pervious (grass, flower beds, non-compacted dirt, forested areas, shrubs). 

2) A "Buildings" polygon layer to hold all building footprints for the landcover practice area, with an attribute for the name (text), and roof type (with flat or pitched values).

3) A "Tree Canopy" data layer, imported from last week's digitizing.  Import those data into your geodatabase if you digitized them as a shapefile, or into another geodatabase.

4) A "Boundary" layer encompassing your landcover/building "practice" study area - you should import the boundary layer you digitized in week 1.

5) Layer topology, with, topological restrictions as:

• Land Cover and Buildings must not overlap,
• Land Cover polygons must not have gaps (except the holes created by Buildings) 
• Trees and buildings must not overlap
• All layers must be contained within your Study Area Boundary

Start Digitizing All Layers in the "Landcover/Buildings" Practice Area. Digitize landcover for at least 50% of your practice area, and all building for that same 50% area, and test the topology rules. Use primarily the 2017 images, but use other images as needed (e.g., WMS images, other years' campus images, as available)  to locate building edges as best you can.

By next Monday before the start of class, turn in:

1) Your geodatabase with your trees layer, your practice landcover area boundary layer, the 50% digitized landcover and buildings layers, and completely specified topology rules.

Remember to use our standard naming convention (initials on the front, week on the back of the name), and zip up your data into an archive.

2) You should also turn in a pdf map that shows at least 50% your landcover and buildings, with the usual map elements.

As noted above, you should create maps in a form that will be easily integrated into your written report. Think about the size and shape of the map when used as a figure, and font sizes, symbology, and the arrangement of map elements when created for that.

Week 3 Slides, geodatabase, digitizing and topology 

Below are more videos on topology, the first a bit repetitive from what's been provided, but 2nd and third videos below help with the actual mechanics of creating topology and fixing topological errors in ArcGIS: 

-Topology concepts, 
-Create topology, 
-Fixing topological errors 

Your rules specify that the buildings layer must not overlap with trees. You can enforce this with the Erase tool, by first digitizing all the buildings, then erasing the trees with the building footprints. 

See this video and read the documentation on the Erase tool.

Week 4 - Finish Digitizing, Topology, Start Report Methods

Complete buildings and landcover 

Complete  cleaning the topology for the practice areas, verify and fix topology for landcover/buildings, keeping the data logically consistent across layers, and complete the building roof type and landcover type and maximum infiltration attributes. Your data should be topologically "clean," with all "real" errors fixed, before you turn it in, but if it isn't, turn in progress by the deadline. 

Create a map  showing your landcover data layer, and display the "clean" topology, after checking for and fixing any topological errors. Be sure to include the topology and participating data layers in your PDF map, and that only the "faux" errors appear in your topology.

Create a map of your canopy and buildings for the "landcover" practice area, with an image background. Canopy should be colored by type (conifers one color, deciduous trees another), and buildings should be colored by roof type (flat roofs one color, pitched roofs another). 

Note that the canopy may should not overlap buildings, so you should use the ArcGIS Erase tool or other method to remove any parts of trees that overlap buildings. Color your trees and building layers with semi-transparent fills so that it is apparent they don't overlap.

Start on the Methods section for your final report,  describing data creation.  This should be four to seven pages of 1.5 spaced text, not counting figures. In addition you should include figures containing digitized layers, one for the landcover, one for soils, one combining buildings and canopy, and one for topology. You may use the maps you've already produced for previous assignments, as appropriate, but your methods section should describe these are examples; don't refer to your practice area as the entire study area, otherwise you will have to rewrite these sections or redo these figures later (remember, we'll be doing an analysis for a larger, two-watershed study area as the focus of our report, and want to be able to use these graphics in that final report).

In order to write this section, you will have to refer back to the project description provided in the first week, and the data development activities over the next two weeks so that you can describe the overall project methods.

You should have a fairly concrete, clear description of the data development you've completed (the vector layers and topology).  

Your description of the data as yet to be completed (soils and watersheds) will be somewhat vague, and you will improve it in the next draft.

You need to include a general description of the analysis, how you will put together the data to reach your goals. This will be perhaps a bit difficult now, in that you may not know what process you will follow, but you have to include some description of your overall analysis to arrive at an answer, even if it is in the broadest of language and not described in great detail. The point is to get you to review the project goals now, and think about how you will process data to reach them.  Re-read the project description, and include a written and/or graphic description of your general processing steps for your analysis, that is, the guide you'll follow after your data are complete.

Next Monday, before the start of class turn in:

1) A pdf map with landcover and your clean topology, with all errors fixed. Include the topology in the legend and on the map..

2) a PDF map of the tree canopy and buildings.

Observe the usual map requirements.

You should also start on the methods section of your report, due Monday after next (week 6). 

Short lecture on Workflow, to help with writing methods section, and a brief description of a "big picture" flowchart

Using Draw.io to create a flowchart

Week 5 - Complete 2nd Report Draft, Create Watersheds, Flowlines

2nd report draft:

• Edit/improve your introduction according to feedback you received on your last draft, and 
• Finish your draft of the Methods section for your report. Your methods section should include a description of your data development methods, and a broad, generalized description, and include a a flowchart, of how you are going to do your analysis. You don't need too many details in this broad description, but I want you to start thinking about this now, so that you can quickly begin work when we start the analysis.

As with the introduction, you need to turn in both an initial draft and a polished draft

Create watersheds for the two pourpoints the practice data, and create a pdf map of your watersheds. Include flowlines on your map, with a threshold of something like 50 to 100 sq m as your flowline threshold. Your watersheds should an extent similar those in the figure here.

YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THE DEM FILL STEP WHILE CALCULTING WATERSHEDS in this exercise, the DEM has already been conditioned for you.

Creating watersheds was covered in FNRM3131/5131, but many of you will not have taken that course, so we provide links to instructions. See the videos and pdfs in this week's resouces section that cover the steps.

The flowpaths might not intersect the provided pourpoints, but only run near.  You should use the the SNAP POURPOINT function, with a snap distance of less than 5 meters, for this exercise.  

Create and turn in a PDF map of your watersheds as semi-transparent overlays, and easily seen watershed boundaries, also include your surface flowlines, and a title, name, and other basic map elements. 

Create a detailed flowchart that describes your specific watershed workflow. This flowchart should include each step, the names of the specific ArcGIS tools you used, and descriptive names of the output layers.  Any key parameters (e.g., snap pour point distance) should also be annotated on the flowchart. Export as a pdf, and turn in on Canvas.

Next Monday, before the start of class turn in:

A pdf map of watersheds, with flowlines, and,

Your report 2nd draft.

Important! As noted in the more detailed materials provided earlier, DO NOT write your methods as an overtly sequential description, and DO NOT frequently refer to specific ArcGIS Pro tools. As in the example reports provided in the Week 2 resources column,  professional reports rarely include this level of detail or form in their methods. 

Watershed Slides

Most of you should have had exposure to the concept of watershed delineation based on a raster DEM.  Here is an excerpt from the "GIS Fundamentals" textbook explaining the general idea, for review: Watershed Background

Below are a video and instructions  excerpted from FNRM3131/5131.  The students in that class are provided a "well-behaved" DEM, that has been pre-processed to work. You'll need to substitute your different input files and other parameters, but these provide an example of the workflow in ArcGIS Pro.

Creating watershed instructions, excerpted from 3131/5131, here using the tools:

• Flow direction
• Flow accumulation
• Snap pour points (snap distance less than 5 m)
• Watersheds

You DON'T NEED TO USE the FILL function on your DEM, included in some of the descriptive materials. The DEM has already been filled for you.  

Video for Watershed Creation

Video for creating vector flowlines from flow accumulation layer. This may require use of the tools

• Raster Reclassify
• Raster to polylines

Also note that the watershed tool sometimes returns incomplete watersheds. This is because the D8 algorithm only allows water to drain one of eight directions, and in nearly flat terrain you can get divergent flow where you shouldn't. Sometimes this results in a cell near your flow channel with a slightly off direction, creating a second watershed upstream that doesn't drain into your pourpoint, at lease as represted by your DEM.  Look to see if this is the case, all of your watersheds should be fairly large. In addition, the streams layer will often show a stream ending, without connecting to another stream, in your FAC-based stream network. Visually check all your output watersheds, and redo, moving the pourpoint slightly if needed. 

Below are videos on using the flowcharting tool available in the lab, and downloadable from the web.

Using Draw.io to create a flowchart

(to do) Review on selecting and calculating fields for vector layers

Clip function

Dissolve function

Week 6 -   Work Flows and Model Builder

Introduction to Model Builder
View the video in the resources column showing a watershed delineation example.

Also look at the Model Builder Quick Tour and other resources from ESRI, linked in the right column.

Follow the exercise here to build a processing model for watershed delineation using the ArcGIS model builder tool. You basically do the steps you followed for last week's exercise, but write them into a model that can conduct all the steps in sequence.

Note that you should make the input and output data layers, and the snap pourpoint distance as parameters, entered at run time.

Next Monday, before class,
turn in:

1. A pdf map of your watersheds, that includes the watershed boundaries, stream lines, and an image background,
   
   
2. Your completed geodatabase, that includes all your final layers, including buildings, canopy, landcover, soils, and watersheds.
3. Your ArcGIS Model Builder model that delineates watersheds

Model Builder resources from ESRI:
-Quick Tour
-Getting Started Building Models
-Model Builder 101

Week 7 - Project Roadmap, and familiarize yourself with the new, mostly complete data

Monday and Wednesday in Zoom (Class) - we'll discuss the overall project, analysis, and output. Participation IS Mandatory

Carefully re-read the semester project description provided in the first week, and develop a draft flowchart of analysis. For most of you this will be much more complete and refined than what you included in your methods draft. You need to think about  the spatial operations and order in which they'll be applied, represented by a box and arrows diagram you'll apply. 

Re-read the project description before class, and come prepared to ask questions about anything that's not clear.

We will provide you with campus wide data very similar to those you have been developing. All work from here forward will be using these campus-wide data, and NOT those that you have developed.  The data are available on the class lab drive.

You will have to modify the data layers a bit for your analysis, e.g., re-calculate the watersheds, move the drain pour-points, and modify a few attributes, but these are relatively minor.

Your task is to estimate the runoff as described in the semester project document, for various storms under current landscape conditions, and after modifying tree canopy, landcover, buildings, and underground storage to mitigate rainstorms.

We will discuss an example flowchart, and provide a refresher on the raster calculator, raster to vector conversion, and some background for the specific problem.

You will have to add details to the flowchart, or create an alternative detailed one to estimate base runoff estimates for various storms.

Complete the flowcharting exercise.

Wednesday - Analysis and Tools

We'll review these tools in class, and describe how we might use them in a workflow to solve your primary analysis:

• Clip function - for data prep
• Dissolve function
• Union (in addition to last week)
• Selection/reclass
• Dissolve
• Polygon to raster
• Raster calculator

Drop these italicized tools, cover the tools above (or some list)

You need to create two intermediate layers for this week,  processing you'll need for your analysis.

But do this to the data we'll provide the students:

First, clip the soils to only the watershed study areas, and select/assign or otherwise recode the soils data based on absorption, to create a column that has maximum absorption, in meters. Use the maximum infiltration values that are listed in the summary section of the project description, linked in the first week's materials.

Second, use the selection/edit or other tools to recode the canopy layer to create a canopy interception layer, with vector polygons or raster cells with a value that stores the interception level, in meters.

Before the start of class on Monday, next week

• Turn in your flowchart exercise - first draft of your detailed flowchart, as a pdf

Also turn in the following pdf maps, based on the two watershed, analysis area data provided on the L:\ESPMx295\Data\ drive, in the ProjectData20 geodatabase

• A canopy interception map, displaying/colored by interception values in meters for the conifer and deciduous, tall and short classes.
• A maximum soils infiltration map, displaying/colored by absorption values in meters for the various soil types

Week's slides 

Finding tools in ArcGIS Pro

Example flowchart graphic (vector analysis, then raster)

Alternative flowchart graphic (all vector)

Week 8 - Net Interception layer, surface infiltration layer

Our analysis must combine the rainfall and canopy interception layers to calculate the net rainfall (that just before it hits the ground).

Create a flowchart and apply it to calculate net interception. Verify you are getting correct results by visually inspecting inputs and outputs, and comparing hand calculated values to those you get in your output data.

Use Model Builder to create a net interception model. If you create a model, make sure the rainfall amount  layer and tree canopy layer are specified as parameters, and if the calculation is in vector format, then also specify the fields in each layer as parameters.

Create a flowchart of your process that combines the landcover, buildings, and soils layer so that we have a maximum soil infiltration layer that shows zero infiltration for the impervious landcovers (roads, sidewallks) and buildings, and the maximum soil infiltration layer for the remaining locations.

Optionally, for extra credit, create a model builder model that does this, with the input landcover and buildings layers as parameters.

By next Monday, before class, turn in:

1. Map of modified canopy that includes zero net interception in areas without trees, a
2. Map of maximum soil infiltration that combines landcover, buildings, and soils data to show maximum infiltration across the surface.

Week's slides: (modify for new Calculate Net Rainfall and Maximum Infiltration Layer

Week 9 - 

More Tools, Calculating Net Runoff for 2.5 cm Rainfall

We'll introduce the general steps needed to create a net runoff layer. Most of the work will be with tools you already know, but we will introduce a few new tools:

• Zonal statistics for Raster
• Summary Statistics for Vector
• Weighted flow accumulation

 By next Monday, before class, turn in two maps and a spreadsheet:

1. Map of your rainfall polygon layer,
2. Map of net runoff for a 2.5cm rainfall event, with watershed boundaries shown on the map, and
3. A spreadsheet with a row for each watershed, with columns of your average interception in cm, average infiltration in cm, and summed agregate runoff, in cubic meters, for each of the target watersheds.

Week's slides, Reclassification and Summary by Zones, here

Example here of how to summarize across a vector polygon layer/table

Week 10 - Calculate Runoff for 5 cm Rainfall, start Report Draft 3

Apply your analysis workflow to estimate runoff for the 5 cm rainfall event, analagous to what you produced last week, just at a higher rain level. Create a map layer and table, produce pdfs, and turn these in.

Start report draft 3. You should include revisions of your introduction and methods, and a new section describing your net runoff results for the 2.5cm and 5cm rainfall runoff for conditions as they are now. The results section should be 1.5 to 3 pages, not counting figures.

Report draft 3 should include:

1) revised introduction and methods sections, based on previous grading/comments. You should include a two flowcharts,  
- a detailed flowchart in an appendix, not in your methods section, and
- a  generalized flowchart in your methods section, showing the main branches of analysis.

The detailed flowchart is each step, with the names of the ArcGIS tools and all your intermediate layers. Be sure to keep the fonts large enough to easily read.

The generalized flowchart is the main branches, combined to their general topics and actions, e.g., a branch to develop net rainfall inputs, a branch to develop surface permeabilities, a branch for watersheds, etc.

2) results section describing your findings for the base case rainfall for both 2.5 and 5 cm rains, and any mitigation for the 2.5 cm rains.  The results section should include the runoff volumes in the format specified in the project description.

Your results section should also include maps of your estimated runoff under current conditions.

Remember that the target audience is the set of administrators in charge of the University physical environment and stormwater management. They don't know anything about GIS software, or GIS theory, or any jargon on geospatial analysis terms. You need to provide enough detail so that an intelligent non-expert will understand what you did, and be convinced that your methods are sound and your reccomendations are valid.

By Monday, turn in: 

1) Map of 5 cm net interception (including zero areas),

2) maximum infiltration, and

3) Net runoff

and

4) Table or graphic showing net runoff by watershed

Week 11 -  Discuss and implement strategies for mitigation, create "new" forest canopy

Create a new forest canopy layer. Digitize points, buffer, as described in class this week, clip/union with the original trees layer combine  to create a modified canopy layer that is part of your 2.5 cm mitigation recommendations.

Create a map that shows the new trees layer, highlighting what you added/changed compared to the old layer (you can do this by displaying the old layer on top of the new layer, in a different shade).

 Complete report draft 3 - you should include all analysis and results for the "as is" conditions, 2.5 cm and 5 cm rainfall (no mitigations changes).  As before, your should include an initial and revised drafts.

Before class on Monday next week, turn in:

1. A modified canopy layer towards mitigation of a 2.5 cm rainfall events.
2. Your third report draft

Week's Slides, Buffering and strategies for "Creating" new canopy, and calculating rainfall mitigation needs.

Buffer function

Singlepart to multipart

Document describing strategies and examples for mitigation planning

Week 12 - Create Pervious pavement, Rain Gardens, Green Roofs for 2.5 cm Rainfall Mitigation

Complete the mitigation modifications for your 2.5 cm rainfall runoff. 

Turn in Next Monday, Before Class: 

1) Data tables that include the runoff for the 2.5 cm rainfall mitigation, and the 
completed table for costs, and

2) map showing the rain gardens, new pervious surfaces, green roof, and underground storage you added for the 2.5 cm mitigation

Week's slides here

Model builder exercise 2 for 5295 students, 4295 students may do this as an extra credit exercise.

Week 13 -  

Turn in next Monday, before class:

Week 14 - Continue Analysis Under Modifications

Project work, modifications and analysis to mitigate runoff for prescribed rainfall amounts

• Not a dang thing

No class final; all assignments due by Wednesday, December 23, 11:59 pm

You should turn in three final geodatabases:

1) A geodatabase with the word "Current" in the name that contains data used for calculating your "current condition" runoff for 2.5 cm and 5 cm storms. These are the base final data, as provided, with any modifications to the main data layers.  The geodatabase should also include your final "surplus water" layer, that is, the layer that you summed by watershed to get the total runoff volume for the study areas. 

2) A geodatabase with "2p5cm" in the name, that includes the modified layers used to obtain your 2.5 cm mitigation of runoff. You should include both the original and modified layers for a 1" storm only, that is, the original canopy layer and the canopy layer with added trees for a 1" storm, and NOT the canopy layers  or any other layers for a 2" storm.  If you did not need to modify a layer to reach the 1" threshold (e.g., no green roofs required for buildings), then just include the original layer (e.g., the original buildings).
Include any of the modified layers from: a) canopy, b) rain gardens/surface storage, c)perviousness, d) buildings (with green roofs attributed), e) subsurface storage entry points.

3) Same as 2, except for the 5 cm rainfall, with "5cm" in the name of the geodatabase. DO NOT include any of the modified layers from the 2.5 cm analysis, but DO include your original data layers and any modified data layers needed to meet the 5 cm requirements.

Your final report should include the information provided in previous drafts, plus a description/discussion of the changes for reducing runoff to zero under the different rainfall amounts. This should include appropriate maps/figures.

Wednesday, Dec. 23rd by 11:59 p.m., turn in your final report, via Canvas, and your copy your final data to the 4295Share\yournamefinaldata subdirectory